Gibbons’ divorce to become a spectacle

CARSON CITY -- In a community property state such as Nevada with its no-fault divorce law, a Southern Nevada divorce lawyer says there is no reason for Gov. Jim Gibbons and his wife, Dawn, to be preparing to duke it out in a divorce trial next week.

Henderson lawyer Bruce Shapiro said they should have settled outside of a courtroom how they will divide their property assets and debts, split the governor's pensions and arrive at a fair, temporary alimony figure for the first lady.

The four-day divorce trial, scheduled to begin Monday before Judge Frances Doherty in Family Court in Reno in clear view of Nevadans, isn't expected to bring new allegations of affairs by the governor. And political analysts also say his popularity already has sunk to such abysmally low levels that a public divorce probably won't further diminish his dwindling chances of re-election in 2010.

But public revelations about his relationship with Dawn aren't likely to help him either.

Shapiro said Dawn Gibbons could be prevented by the judge from using the trial to rehash her allegations that the governor had affairs with two married Reno women.

"They don't need to bring that in," said Shapiro, who has been practicing divorce and family law in Clark County since 1990 and is a past member of the State Bar's Standing Committee on Judicial Ethics and Election Practices. "Only in narrow circumstances should a judge allow that in a no-fault state."

Based on documents filed in the case, the state's first couple has property assets of about $1.4 million after subtracting their debts.

The governor has several pensions: one for his 10 years in Congress; one for a 20-year career as a Delta Airlines pilot; and a state pension for his National Guard duty, his six years as a state legislator and his four years as governor.

Shapiro said it would be reasonable for the judge to award Dawn Gibbons $50,000 year or more in alimony, but then make that contingent on her getting a job in a specified number of months or years.

The governor's lawyer, Gary Silverman, won't talk publicly about the divorce trial. But in court documents, he said Dawn Gibbons' alimony should be limited to 2010 if the governor, who turned 65 last week, loses his $140,000-a-year job next year.

Silverman also alleged that Dawn Gibbons wants to use the trial to further damage her husband's re-election chances.

Sources close to the governor said he has offered the first lady 60 percent of their common assets and agreed to sell his Lamoille property.

The governor purchased 20 acres of land in Elko County near beautiful Lamoille Canyon in 2007 for $575,000. He has said repeatedly that the property was where he wanted to build his dream retirement home.

But in an interview before Gibbons filed for divorce in May 2008, Dawn Gibbons said he used his congressional pension to purchase the Lamoille land.

The couple also owns a ranch-style home on 2.5 acres in southwest Reno. The property has been on the market for a year with no takers. They have asked $1.1 million for the home, which has a $312,000 existing loan.

Jim Gibbons wants to keep a couple of Model-T Fords and a sports car.

Dawn Gibbons' lawyer, Cal Dunlap, won't talk much either about the pending divorce. But he denies the governor is offering 60 percent of the assets to end the marriage, saying only that he is "not being fair" with his spouse.

Dunlap said the "major sticking point" now is alimony, but added there also is problem in dividing up the property assets because nothing is selling in today's depressed real estate market.

"Some people cannot afford to divorce," Dunlap said. "The sensible thing for them is to remain married until the major properties are sold."

But he added he does expect Doherty to grant a divorce in the case of the governor and first lady.

So does Shapiro.

"This is not going to be continued," Shapiro said. "The divorce is going to be granted."

He said 80 percent to 90 percent of divorce cases in the nation are settled before the trial.

He speculated that Doherty might have scheduled the trial during the week between Christmas and New Year's to induce the couple to reach a settlement. They still were negotiating in a conference call with their lawyers on Christmas Eve.

Shapiro said the judge could allow testimony to show Gibbons had girlfriends, but only for the limited basis of proving the governor illegally used community property to buy them gifts.

"That would give her a foot in the door (to talk about affairs)," he said. "The judge could find community property waste. They are probably going to take the opportunity to embarrass the governor."

If the case goes to trial Monday, then University of Nevada, Reno, political science professor Eric Herzik predicts it will become a "public spectacle" because that is what the first lady wants.

But he expressed doubt that any additional talk about the governor having affairs would hurt him politically.

"The stuff about affairs is irrelevant," Herzik said. "Most people now are saying 'Solve it. This has gone on too long. Why are you fighting over this in public?' This is so unseemly."

"The sympathy vote certainly goes to Dawn," he said. "But by the same token, why is she spending so much money they don't have to keep together a marriage that is broken?"

Herzik said the Gibbons' chances at re-election already are next to nothing.

A recent poll commissioned for the Las Vegas Review-Journal showed just 19 percent of those who responded have a favorable view of the governor.

A separate poll found him trailing former U.S. District Judge Brian Sandoval 2-to-1 in the Republican primary.

Like Herzik, Gibbons' campaign manager, Robert Olmer, believes most Nevadans are sick of the divorce and want it over.

"Many divorces are acrimonious," he added. "People understand that. They want them to get on with their lives."

Olmer emphasized that the two women who the first lady says had affairs with the governor have denied those allegations.

"Don't you think that someone would have said something if it were true?" Olmer asked. "This is just a typical divorce."

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.